I’ve been reading a little about this recently, so I thought Id share my thoughts here. There is a lot of debate about the identity of this now unknown old world plant, which was highly regarded and used in a variety of cultures. It is praised in the Rig Veda, of Hinduism, and the Avesta, of Zoroastrianism. It was used also by the Romans for increasing bonding between soldiers, and due to these long and related traditions, it seems the use of Soma may go all the way back to the very beginning of golden civilisation – even perhaps, be a cause of golden civilisation, as you may see when we look at the nature of Soma. Of course, it may appear elsewhere under other names.

Modern people often regard Soma as the Amanita mushroom. While this is a significant plant indeed, there is a lot of reason, I think, to suspect this is the wrong ID, as I will elaborate on a little. Rather than propose specific plants, I am just going to look more closely at the actual subjective effects and qualities of the experience and speculate about that – something dry academics will be unable to do.

First what does the Soma do for you, and what does it feel like? Well we get a very intensive description in the Rig Veda. Here’s some select quotes:

“Gracious, displaying tender love, unconquered, gentle in thy thoughts,

Be sweet, O Soma, to our heart.

O Soma, terrify us not; strike us not with alarm, O King:

Wound not our heart with dazzling flame.”

“Fiend-queller, Friend of all men”

“Be thou best Vṛtra-slayer, best granter of bliss, most liberal:

Promote our wealthy princes' gifts.

Flow onward with thy juice unto the banquet of the Mighty Gods:

Flow hither for our strength and fame.”

“We have drunk Soma and become immortal; we have attained the light, the Gods discovered.

Now what may foeman's malice do to harm us? What, O Immortal, mortal man's deception?”

“Win skilful strength and mental power. O Soma, drive away our foes;

And make us better than we are.”

Okay, so here we are getting into the heart of what the ancient texts are telling us about the substance. It possesses a loving, tender quality, imbues mental strength and power, makes one immune to malice, and can also reveal personal weaknesses. It is ritualistically and symbolic linked to light, and cleansing.

However, despite many psychoactive proponents suggesting Soma is a psychedelic, much of the Veda decribes how the soma actually enhances memory, attention and other features of very rooted “normal” conciousness.

So instead of being impaired while consuming Soma, the drinkers were in fact less impaired than sober people (or well however that should be said!). That can hardly be said for consumers of the Amanita mushroom! (Who are downright out of it)

So, what makes you loving, strong, clear-headed and can also reveal weaknesses? Sounds a lot to me, like a non-euphoric mood substance or tonic, rather than what is a psychedelic or even euphoric agent. A far more subtle teacher it seems, and far more powerful too.

In fact, it sounds like something modern people known little or nothing about at all, in theory or practice, something we would probably niavely class more like as an “anti-depressant”, or “smart drug”, or something else inappropriate to its psychoaction.

What’s more, the seeming discovery of this compound, around the birthplace of golden civilization (physically and temporally - its described as being abundant in this region, and only a common cultural root would explain its use being so widely culturally distributed), that makes one loving, strong, and clear-headed – it could be reason to suspect the civilisation of man, came about because of the ingestion of this “civilizing” plant!

Think about that, it makes a lot of sense: What brought everyone together in trust and not violence en mass, where before it had never occured?

It seems that this unknown substance, that does not alter the perceptions, but has potentially amazing mental properties, even as a “medicine”, may have even influenced early culture, yet, reading the vivid descriptions, we still missing the magic of how something like that would even work in the brain, let alone knowing any substance with these properties…

Reading this text, in this light, is almost like something from the perspective of some Alien beings. So vastly spaced from modern thought..

For anyone investigating the Soma story, I highly recommend reading the original sources (the best is the Veda) rather than secondary texts by academics, religious people and speculators (like myself!). Having done so myself, most of the suggested possibilities seem quite absurd next to the texts, especially the notion that it is Agaric mushroom, or even, as religious scholars suggest, its merely a symbol, or ephedra (a mild stimulant). None of these plants remotely resemble the described effects.

Of course it’s rather ironic that the patent for the name “Soma” is now used for a mental fog producing sleep agent!

There’s a compelling academic case for both of these sacraments being drugs, when we look at the Bible.

Let’s look first at the anointing oil described in the bible as most holy – that which gives Christ his name meaning “the anointed one”. This was a high purification ritual, the cleansing with Chrism, more fundamental than baptism, or communion – in fact, a requirement for being considered a true follower. The anointing oil basically consists of plants extracted into oil, and then soaked liberally onto the “anointed”.

What was original translated as “fragrant cane” or “Spice cane”, in fact looks more likely to refer to the fragrant flowering tops of cannabis – what is nowadays referred to as the “buds”– something even some bible scholars and Judaic experts are now willing to admit. The recipe for the sacred anointing oil is in Exodus, along with some information about its use. While it’s a little long for a quote, it gives real context to the sacred oil.

Read more HERE....

Here’s a bit of a short news update, since it’s been awhile since one.

Amy Winehouse is dead. Drugs or alcohol are suspected to be involved, but it’s Amy Winehouse so they would be anyway. I guess we will see. Shame.

It’s long been thought that LSD could offer a long term treatment for cluster headaches, and it has been the basis of several drugs to designed to do that. A non-hallucinogenic analogue has been recently shown to do just this.

A rise in usage of Phenazapam in the UK leads to this confused article (worth a chuckle – “Benzo Fury” is in fact APB not benzo's).

More hints of the ‘Higgs boson’ at the Large Hadron Collider. Question is how long will it take them to decipher any meaning behind their results, let alone what a Higgs really means.

IBM are working on a technology to actively sense a person’s keyboard style on a touch screen so the keyboard can adapt to the person.

And also in the touch screen department, but far more exciting – they have developed a technology that can provide dynamic dips and bumps on a touchscreen, even push your fingers, using oscillations on a sheet of glass – so you can get touch feedback. Wicked!

They have detected a black hole and quasar with water vapours surrounding it, greater in mass than our earth’s water by many times. Read that here.

A theory that implies the big bang followed a big crunch in a cyclic universe (An idea which has even gathered some evidence, a measurable radiation from before the bang) – is explained here by a theory involving anti-matter and matter conversions.

A trance state is one of focused relaxation. No, not the lazers and hands in the air sort of trance, although thats related. It’s common enough, you experience it when engrossed in TV, or driving a familiar route. But it’s also the focus of a lot of cultural and spiritual ceremony, and used for medical and psychological reasons in hypnotherapy. The mysteries of dreams, the subconscious, the trance states, and the drug altered states have mystified and awed every generation of humanity since it’s beginning. Entering into a trance state is one of the easiest and most practical means of reaching these unconscious levels of awareness. Fortunately, unlike on the TV show fringe, it’s not just a matter of someone flashing special red and green lights at you – it’s something that is entirely voluntary and controlled.

There are many things used as a “driver” for achieving trance states. They are tools to help achieve the trance state, although it is perfectly achievable naturally without technique. The alpha brain wave occurs between ordinary consciousness and sleeping. Visual methods of driving, range from mandala’s to light machines and strobes. Sound can be used, such as drumming, or certain sounds like white noise, or binaural beats. Sound achieves this effect by a process called entrainment, which is where the brain waves seek to match the sound waves heard. Electronic music, like trance music, also can create these effects.

Physical movement can also help produce trance. Dancing is one such method – and many people who dance long hours to electronic music report trance effects, essentially this is a modern form of shamanic dancing. Walking meditation, yoga, tai chi and juggling are other movement-based methods.

Read more HERE.